The present invention relates to photographic apparatus in general, and more particularly to improvements in exposure controls for photographic apparatus, especially for still cameras.
It is already known to adjust the exposure controls of a still camera in dependency on the sensitivity of photographic film which is confined in the housing of the camera. To this end, the container (e.g., a drop-in cassette) for photographic film is provided with markers in the form of projections, notches or the like whose position, depth, height and/or other characteristics are indicative of the film speed. It is further known to automatically select a fixed exposure time for the making of exposures with artificial illumination of the subject. Certain other cameras employ complex electronic exposure controls which monitor the intensity of scene light and the sensitivity of inserted film to automatically select an appropriate combination of exposure time and aperture size. All such cameras are either too simple or overly complex and expensive. Thus, there exists an urgent need for photographic apparatus which are simple, compact and inexpensive but are nevertheless sufficiently sophisticated to enable the user to adjust the exposure controls in a number of ways and in dependency on all important parameters which influence the quality of exposures while, at the same time, insuring that the user need not spend too much time for adjustment of exposure controls prior to picture taking.